So I also really dislike the ads. We do pay them monthly for a service that really should be free.

Then to layer advertising on top of that is just salt in the wound.

What I am wondering is if we can find a simple solution. The ads I am guessing are served up from different URL's or IPs as the rest of the EGP etc... so if we knew what those addresses or ranges were we could simply block them at the router.

This would presumably prevent the ads from showing, but keep everything else as normal.

This is assuming that the ads are not served from the exact same addresses that the EPG et. al. is served from.

Wonder if something like that would be feasible?

Think I'll make this a project. Already have the tiro on a different router and subnet, getting wireshark going, see what I can find. Sift through the traffic like finding a needle in a haystack, just need to try and locate when it retrieves and ad, and an EPG update and see where they are headed.

The adds subsidize the service, and there are no options to pay an unsubsidized price.

You get used to them, and like a billboard that you never look at, they will eventually disappear from your mind when using. How often do you pause and look at the screen? Most times, if you are doing that, you will end up hitting clear to get rid of the progress bar anyhow.

Go ahead and try what you want, nobody has been successful over a long period of time. I'm not sure if it is against the tivo service agreement, but you may want to look that over first.

The adds subsidize the service, and there are no options to pay an unsubsidized price.

You get used to them, and like a billboard that you never look at, they will eventually disappear from your mind when using. How often do you pause and look at the screen? Most times, if you are doing that, you will end up hitting clear to get rid of the progress bar anyhow.

Go ahead and try what you want, nobody has been successful over a long period of time. I'm not sure if it is against the tivo service agreement, but you may want to look that over first.

Thanks jrtoo.

What are they subsidizing? lol I call BS, they are just money grabbing, of course that is normal though.

I mean $400 piece of hardware, then $15/mo on top of that for what amounts to an EPG? They obviously don't spend that much on development given the state of the half assed HD/non HD ui elements and slow as molasses implementations.

Anyway I digress. Advertising is everywhere these days.

Looks like it can be done with privoxy BTW.

EDIT: I guess I should clarify. I used to run an MCE setup and decided to go to Tivo. I guess the thing that chafes my hide is that prior to purchasing nowhere did I see them state it was subsidized by advertising etc... I found out the first time I turned on the device. It caught me off guard. This too however is normal. PS3 has advertising, the 360 has it as well and xbox live gold is a pay service too. So does my apple TV, and roku etc... So not unusual.

What are they subsidizing? lol I call BS, they are just money grabbing, of course that is normal though.

They are subsidizing our subscription rate. Which would you prefer?
$15/mo with ads or $25/mo without?

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrooperOrange

I mean $400 piece of hardware, then $15/mo on top of that for what amounts to an EPG? They obviously don't spend that much on development given the state of the half assed HD/non HD ui elements and slow as molasses implementations.

You're getting the hardware at a reasonable price (IMO). Try to build your own DVR. Price out each of the following and let me know what you come up with.

Case

Motherboard

Memory

Video Card (may not be needed depending on MB)

Hard drive(s)

Tuner device(s)

Operating software (e.g. if you plan to use WMC)

Cooling fans

CD ROM (for installing software if needed)

The approximate value of your time putting it all together and getting it working

etc.

Now as for the service, it is much more than a EPG. You are basically paying a license fee to use the TiVo software and all the features that it offers, some of them exclusive. Just like other software licenses you get access to more features as opposed to using the free version of the software.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrooperOrange

Anyway I digress. Advertising is everywhere these days.

I can agree with that. You learn to ignore it all.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrooperOrange

Looks like it can be done with privoxy BTW.

EDIT: I guess I should clarify. I used to run an MCE setup and decided to go to Tivo. I guess the thing that chafes my hide is that prior to purchasing nowhere did I see them state it was subsidized by advertising etc... I found out the first time I turned on the device. It caught me off guard. This too however is normal. PS3 has advertising, the 360 has it as well and xbox live gold is a pay service too. So does my apple TV, and roku etc... So not unusual.

Yep. But IMO, TiVo is the least offensive perpetrator. It could be worse.
TiVo could put the ads at the TOP of your show folder instead of the bottom.
They could delete the backdoor code that makes pause ads disappear quickly.
I'm not going to extrapolate further because I don't want to give TiVo any ideas.

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What are they subsidizing? lol I call BS, they are just money grabbing, of course that is normal though.

TiVo has yet to consistently turn a profit even though they require service fees and advertising. Nobody else seems to think that there's money to be made in the retail DVR market, or they've tried and failed. What do you know that TiVo and everyone else has failed to figure out?

They are subsidizing our subscription rate. Which would you prefer?
$15/mo with ads or $25/mo without?

That is not the choice. The choice is $35 a month with the ads, which is what we are paying now whether we own a Tivo or not, or $25 a month without. Anyone who thinks they are not paying a premium for the existence of an ad is a fool, and they do so whether they consume or make any use of the ad medium, or not.

Quote:

Originally Posted by steve614

You're getting the hardware at a reasonable price (IMO).

Actually, a bit too low.

Quote:

Originally Posted by steve614

Yep. But IMO, TiVo is the least offensive perpetrator. It could be worse.
TiVo could put the ads at the TOP of your show folder instead of the bottom.
They could delete the backdoor code that makes pause ads disappear quickly.
I'm not going to extrapolate further because I don't want to give TiVo any ideas.

It doesn't matter to me in the least where they put them, especially since I eliminate them completely anyway. What does matter is I have to pay for those ads. (Note: the total cost to me must include the cost of all similar ads. The cost from just TiVo is small, but when added to all similar advertising, the cost mounts, and for every person who does not use a TiVo there is another using a Kindle, or an iPad, or whatever, that also is subsidized by ad revenues.) It would be much, much cheaper to the bottom line if no hardware were subsidized by advertising, and the extra $10 a month or so for my TiVo would be much smaller than the cost of advertising for which I must pay.

I just don't get the whole "I can't stand the ads" thing. They are so unobtrusive. They don't impact the functionality of my DVR or how I use it. They don't make me wait for anything. I don't even see them anymore!

I just don't get the whole "I can't stand the ads" thing. They are so unobtrusive. They don't impact the functionality of my DVR or how I use it. They don't make me wait for anything. I don't even see them anymore!

I'm with you, there have been plenty of other things they need to fix before this ever shows up on my RADAR, I'm pausing because I'm walking away for a bit, I'll never even notice the ad.

__________________"There is a distinct difference between having an open mind and having a hole in your head from which your brain leaks out."

Another reason for pausing can be to see if some lady just flashed a piece of her body, or if that was your imagination. Probably one of the most famous examples being the superbowl halftime wardrobe malfunction. I was watching that alone, and when I rewound and paused to verify what I thought I saw, I saved the recording and told my wife later when she got home and she was very interested to see the scene played back.

I remember another scene on American Idol, I think when a girl got in an awkward position, and could swear for a split second, her dress moved in a way to show her non-underweared (aka commando) groin underneath. I played it back to be sure, and the next day as if in confirmation there was a story on TMZ about it.

The point being, who wants to to see distracting ads during times like those?

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Yes, but the pause ad is much more likely to block their vajayjay than the progress bar is...

LMAO, I lost it when I read this, totally cracked me up.

Thanks for all the replies. I think the reality is, this is the world we live in with regards to advertising. I wouldn't give up the tivo for ads, but I was caught off guard by them felt kinda put off.

Thanks for all the replies. I think the reality is, this is the world we live in with regards to advertising. I wouldn't give up the tivo for ads, but I was caught off guard by them felt kinda put off.

You are not alone. You should have seen these forums when TiVo first implemented the integrated ads.

And I don't think you were the first person to think of trying to block the ads via network activity, but whatever you try will be of benefit.
We all learn from each other.

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They are subsidizing our subscription rate. Which would you prefer?
$15/mo with ads or $25/mo without?

This is where I become skeptical, because TiVo is unlikely to turn down any amount of advertising money saying "We've reached our limit for what is needed for the month". If they are in business of selling Ad space, they will have a sales force that will try to get as many advertisers that are willing to pay, and each month their goals will be match\beat the previous month. If they can get 1000 more more advertisers per month, TiVo will find a way to makes sure those ads are in faces of TiVo customers. I am skeptical they will turn down Ad business as if there is limited ad space available, they simply will make the space.

Yeah, I am concerned that Tivo will redsign the UI so that the main TiVo screens will have one or more rotating ads, just like we see on webpages.

__________________
Two Series 3 TiVos, One TiVo Premiere, all with lifetime subs.
One dedicated media server with Steambaby and other media services.
Use VideoRedo for editing TiVo files.
Tivo user since 1999.

I bought the TIVO because I didn't want to watch commercials on TV. It really irritates me that TIVO is placing the ads at the bottom of the screen during pause. We should be able to toggle our settings so we don't need to watch the ads if we don't wish to.

The S-P-S-Pause-S hack does instantly clear the ad when you pause, with the added benefit of quickly clearing the progress bar during pause, FF, and Rewind. This is as important to me as clearing the ad.

I have an old Series3 and the ads seem to be gone nowadays. It's been about a year since i last rebooted my Tivo (which clears the SPSPS code) and when i rebooted the other day i tried to re-activate the SPSPS hack during playback and i could not get it to take, then i realized that i'm no longer getting the ads on pause, and apparently this was preventing the SPSPS hack from working.

But i still want the progress bar to disappear immediately like it was before the reboot so i did some searching here and found out that the SPSPS hack only worked when playing back recordings that contained the ad on pause. I tried to find a recording that has the ads on pause, but i checked dozens of my old and new recordings and none of them contained an ad on pause so i had no way to get the SPSPS hack to take.

I did some more searching and found a few posts saying that the SPSPS hack will also work if it's performed while playing a video from the Showcases section, so i brought up a Rob Zombie Woolite commercial and performed SPSPS while it was playing and it finally worked. I did not get any confirmation ding sounds but the hack did work and now my progress bar clears instantly on pause, FF, and Rew.

Here's a summary of how to perform the SPSPS hack:

1. Play back an existing recording from your Now Playing List that has an ad during pause. If none of your recordings have an ad on pause, then play a video from the Showcase section instead.

Still don't see why pause ads are a bother, especially since you can make it go away if you paused to see something on the screen.

__________________
The TOS for the Internet clearly notes there will be people who display their ignorance without giving any warning and indeed are likely unaware they are displaying their ignorance for all to see.

So? Took 45 seconds. Once installed, it's automatic. I don't have to do anything; it just works.

Yeah? And? That's the exception to the rule, and you know how to work around it, the rare times you need to.

And your counter to my analogy is silly, because there will never, ever be a time that I'd wish I didn't block the TiVo's Pause Ad. I will want them to be removed from my screen 100% of the time.

You have the need to see what's behind the ad that often?

__________________
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